Prey For The Hunter II
by TurboLoverBOP
Summary: My spin on the episode Prey For The Hunter


What if Reese wasn't on Helena's side? This story takes a look at their relationship at that angle. It's also an alternate version of the episode "Prey For The Hunter." No copyright infringement is intended and I do not claim to own the characters of Birds of Prey.

I never really cared for the way Reese's character was written because he seemed to wimpy. This Reese is a bit more...aggressive, shall we say. Enjoy!

**PREY FOR THE HUNTER II **

Tonight is one of those nights where I'd welcome some "down time" because all I've done tonight is take out the trash. Not literally, of course, just cleaning up New Gotham's riffraff problem.

Right now I'm running after a guy that stole another guy's "man purse." Honestly, I never thought I'd be doing this. Usually it's an old lady or young, attractive blonde that couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag. But no...it's a man's purse.

We run into an alley and the fun is about to begin now that he has nowhere to run. "Just hand it over and do yourself a favor, would ya?" Hey...I offered to end it peacefully, but he turns to me, sucks in a breath and before I can even react he's spitting some sort of glowing green slime at me. It singes the arm of my leather jacket. "What the...?"

He inhales in an attempt to hock a vicious loogey at me but I quickly slam my fist in his face, twirl him around and toss him over the other side of the dumpster.

Looking at my jacket, there's a hole right through the leather and even my blouse. "Oh, man. You got the blouse too?!? Goddamnit, don't you..." before I could utter another word, he came sailing through the air over the dumpster and landed face-down on the ground by my feet. I turned him over with my foot, my eyes widening at the sight of a large, bubbling wound in his chest that was deep and sizzling away at his internal organs. "Gross," I snarled as I winced at the sight. I'm not a big fan of seeing people's insides.

I looked all around the area and listened closely to see if anyone was around, but I saw and heard nothing. "Oracle?"

:: Go ahead. ::

"I just had a run-in with some punk and he's obviously meta. He spit some sort of acid at me."

:: Are you alright::

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine but I tossed him over this dumpster and he um...he came back but not in the same condition that I had sent him over in." I knelt down in front of him. "It looks like he spit that stuff all over himself because he's got a massive open wound in his chest."

:: You better get out of there, looks like the cops have been dispatched to the area. ::

"Got it. Huntress out."

I rounded the corner and halfway up the street I could see the man that owned the purse heading towards me.

"Here," I said as I tossed it to him, somewhat agitated by the whole situation.

"Thank you!" he squealed. "My whole life is in this bag. My day planner, my Blackberry, my iPod, my..."

I rolled my eyes. "Just be careful next time."

He nodded and dashed off down the street.

As I continued walking I heard a car coming down the street behind me. When I turned to look I realized it was Reese.

He parked the car and got out, leaning on the roof as he began his nightly questioning of me and my whereabouts. "Hey."

"Detective," I answered, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Just out for a stroll, I see."

"Last I checked that wasn't against the law."

He walked around to the front of the car and then to the edge of the sidewalk, spinning his handcuffs around in his hands. "I don't suppose you know anything about the murder of the mysterious dead guy in the alley back there. The one with a hole in his chest."

"If there's a dead guy back there shouldn't you be there checking his pulse or something?" I put my hand over the hole in my jacket so that he wouldn't see it.

He stepped towards me, closing the gap between us. "My partner is checking it out," he said as he looked into my eyes. He tilted his head to the side a bit as he looked me up and down, "You're always conveniently around. Who are you anyway?"

I smiled slightly, amused by the fact that I had information he didn't have. "Lemme guess, I give you my name and you run off to your little database and see if I'm wanted for something just so you can feel all manly. But fine...you can call me Huntress."

"What kind of name is that?"

"It's the name you can call me because I'm not giving you my real name."

He got even closer to me. The agitation on his face was evident. "I'm keeping my eye on you...Huntress. I feel the guilt seeping out of your pores and one of these days," he dangled the handcuffs in front of me, "I'm gonna snap these on you and you're going to wish you'd chosen another path in life."

I wanted desperately to punch him in the face after that comment but I managed to tame my rage. "You only wish you could handcuff me, detective. But you're wrong about me. Don't let your dried up love life cloud your judgment."

My face met the cool brick wall as he shoved me into it, pinning me with the weight of his body and yanking my right arm behind my back, straining my shoulder and making it burn. I could feel the warmth of his breath on my neck as he spoke, "I'm gonna take you down, you can count on it. There are way too many murders and mysterious things going on lately and for some reason you're always around just after they happen." He pushed up on my arm, causing me to grunt but I quickly covered it up with an amused laugh. "Oh, you won't be laughing after I get through with you."

"Let go of me if you're not going to arrest me."

He leaned his weight harder into me for a few seconds before giving me a shove and then backing off. "Watch yourself, Huntress." He straightened out his jacket and then returned to his car.

I saluted to him and gave him a sarcastic wink. I rather enjoyed taunting him, but I have to admit that he did hurt my arm a little bit. I'd never give him the satisfaction of letting him know that though.

He tore off down the street and I continued home.

I spent the next several nights observing rather than taunting the good detective. Looks like his new partner, Claude Morton suffers from a lot of headaches. Each time I see him he appears to be in agony. Then again, he does have to work with Reese so that could account for the pain.

But the more I've listened to him the more suspicious I've become. So I decide to have a little chat with Morton without Starsky by his side.

I find a prime opportunity when Morton is walking home after work. Funny, as I follow behind him I can see his hand go to his head.

We get to a vacant lot and I decide to make my presence known. "Need some aspirin?"

He whips around, his eyes narrowing as he looks at me. "You! I told Reese all about you and how you're one of those creatures."

Just the word "creature" made me want to shove my hand down his throat and tear out his vocal cords. "Gee, that was real nice of you. But seriously, what's your deal?"

His fingers touched his temples as I stepped closer. "You all deserve to die!"

"That's really not the answer I was looking for."

"Too bad," he said as his eyes suddenly became catlike. Before I knew it he was attacking me, hitting me in the face, the ribs, anywhere I gave him a chance.

He fought just like me. We exchanged blow after blow and he wasn't tiring.

He threw me into a wooden fence and my back tore through it as if it were made of paper. I landed on the ground and he came at me, but I put my foot up and hurled him over me. He sailed through the air and right into the path of an oncoming car. He crashed onto the hood and slid off as the driver screeched to a stop.

I didn't stick around to find out what happened...I ran.

**SEVERAL DAYS LATER**

I peered over the edge of the variety store rooftop I was standing on and I could see Reese walking down the street with Morton. Morton knew I was close because I was giving him one nasty headache judging by the way he was squeezing the bridge of his nose. Little did he know, I was about to give him a pain in the ass after I kicked it.

I swooped down from the ledge just as Reese had walked away from him. I quickly grabbed him by the neck and shoved him hard against the wall, lifting him up and enjoying his gasps for air.

"Reese!" he choked.

"Huntress!" Reese yelled behind me.

I turned to look at Reese for a moment as I squeezed Morton's neck. "Here's your murderer right here, Reese." Then I saw Reese raise his gun at me.

"Let him go."

"Shoot her! She's dangerous!" Morton squeaked as he struggled against my grip.

"Come on, Reese. Think about it, Morton here seems to know an awful lot about the murders and gets one hell of a headache whenever a meta is around. You can put two and two..."

"Put him down right now or I'll shoot you. What makes sense to me is that you're one of those meta-human things running around killing people."

Suddenly, my anger towards Morton lessened slightly and my anger towards Reese intensified. I let Morton go, but slammed him down to the ground before moving away from him. Then I turned towards Reese who had his finger on the trigger.

"Shoot her, Reese! She's going to kill you!" Morton wheezed as he rubbed his throat.

"Do you honestly think I'm a threat to you or that I'm killing fellow Metas?" I put my hands out by my sides and took a step towards Reese. Bad move.

_**BANG!!!**_

I felt the impact of the bullet penetrate my skin, biting into bone as it burned it's way into my thigh. I staggered back for a moment but didn't fall. My head snapped up, looking at Reese with a mixture of shock and anger - my eyes in feral mode.

"Get down on your knees and put your hands behind your head!" he instructed me, his face was void of sympathy.

I bit on my bottom lip as I pressed down on the wound. "You're making a huge mistake, Reese."

"I said, GET DOWN!"

I painfully got down on my knees and felt Morton come up behind me, roughly handcuffing my hands behind my back. "I should wipe the floor with you, freak."

"You're lucky I didn't bash your head in and..."

_**WHAM!!**_

My head swung to the right as Reese unloaded a punch right to my mouth, immediately bloodying my lip. "Shut up and don't say another word."

I spat out blood onto the sidewalk. "So you're into beating up women, I see. What a man."

"You're no woman. No woman I know goes around jumping off buildings or murdering people in cold blood. Now on your feet," he said as he pulled me up.

But I wasn't about to go anywhere with him. In a flash, I twisted to my left and brought my foot up, catching him right in the chin. Morton came at me and I had a kick for him, only this one was low and up the middle. He clutched his goods and fell to the ground as Reese came at me again, but I quickly scaled the side of the building and got up to the roof - falling onto the gravel and grimacing in pain as all that movement jarred my wound. After a few moments, I tucked the pain away and hightailed it to the Clocktower.

When the elevator doors opened, I limped inside the room. Barbara quickly took note of my unusual walking style but from across the dark room she didn't realize the real cause of it. "Uh oh, did you try jumping between the deli and the library again?"

"Not exactly," I said as I got closer to her, further into the light.

"Oh my God, what happened?" she said as she finally saw the bloody bullet hole in my leg and the trail of blood I was leaving on the floor.

"Reese."

"What?!?" she gasped as she guided me into the lab.

"He thinks that I'm the one murdering Metas." I hopped up onto the steel table. "Morton was there. I originally went after him and tried to tell Reese that he's the one to focus on, but he...ow!"

"Sorry. Just trying to get a better look at it." She tried to be gentle, she always did, but the slightest touch around the torn flesh sent jolting waves of pain through me.

"He just shot me for no good reason! He's been on my case for a while now but this is the first time that he's ever been violent against me. I mean, what kind of guy shoots a woman...or even hits a woman?"

A soft hand touched the side of my cheek as she frowned, "He hit you too?" Barbara looked at the readings on the computer and put on a pair of latex gloves. "The bullet is lodged in your femur."

"Whatever, just get it out...hurts like hell."

"I'm gonna have to put you under."

"Just numb it and do it," I said as I laid back. I was never a fan of anesthesia. But in the end it really didn't matter...I passed out the second the forceps hit the hole.

**HOURS LATER**

"Where are you going?" I hear Barbara scolding me from behind.

"Home to change and then out to look for Morton," I answer as I limp towards the elevator.

"Helena, you just got shot not even 24 hours ago. Get back here and sit down. You need to keep that leg elevated."

"Barbara, I'm fine. You worry too much. I have to get back out there and find Morton before he kills someone else."

"Wait!" she said as she grabbed my wrist. "We need a plan. I'm still trying to..."

"We don't have time! Morton is hunting down Metas. METAS, Barbara. MY people. I have to stop him."

"And WE will, I just need another few hours."

I shook my head, "I'm sorry, I can't wait any longer. It's bad enough I've been flat on my back for this long and I've just wasted time."

"Helena, you were shot, for crying out loud! I don't think the blame automatically falls on you because you spent a few hours taking care of yourself. You wouldn't be much good to anyone if you were dead."

I know she was right but there was no way in hell I'd say it outloud. "Look...I'll keep my comm set on and will let you know when I find him."

She sucked in a deep breath and then sighed heavily. She knew I was just going to do what I wanted to do - she'd known me long enough. "Just be careful. You shouldn't be jumping any rooftops on that leg."

I got into the elevator and sheepishly waved to her as the doors closed in front of me. I know that I hurt her every time I do something like this and put my life on the line, but it's part of my "job." I guess I avoid thinking about it so it doesn't bother me as much but for her I think it hits pretty hard.

After I changed, I downed a couple of aspirin to help with the pain and then headed back out to the streets to see if I could track Morton down. The biggest challenge will be to keep out of Reese's way until I get to Morton, otherwise I'm going to be wasting even more time by sitting in a cell downtown.

But unfortunately wherever I find Reese is where I'll find Morton. I hate to say it but I'm not feeling entirely confident about this one.

As I travel the city via rooftops, I stop for a few moments and take a seat on a few wooden crates in an effort to give my leg a rest - hoping it would stop throbbing. I blow out a breath as I press the palm of my hand over the injured area.

:: Huntress::

"Yeah?"

:: Everything okay out there::

I always forget that Barbara sees my every movement on her computer screen and she's obviously picked up on the fact that I've stopped, plus I'm sure she's heard each and every whimper, grunt and sigh I've let out. "Yeah. Haven't found him yet."

:: I actually don't mean Morton, I mean your leg. ::

"It's okay, just really sore."

:: Well, if you'd stop jumping around like you're doing it wouldn't hurt as much. You really shouldn't be out there at all. ::

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah," I said as I stood back up, hissing slightly as I put too much weight on it.

:: Promise me that after this is done you'll take a few days off. ::

"For once in my life I don't think I'm going to argue with you on that one."

I heard a sigh of relief through my comm. :: Good. Thank you. ::

"Maybe I'll..." my banter with Barbara was suddenly interrupted by Morton climbing up onto the roof a few hundred yards from me. "He's here."

:: Keep your line open, do you hear me::

"What will make you worry less?" I asked softly.

:: Neither, actually. ::

"Huntress! There you are. I could feel you lurking around up here. So much so you gave me a nose bleed. That's never happened before."

"Aw. Excuse me if I don't feel sorry for you."

He walked closer towards me.

:: Don't let him get close enough to steal your powers. ::

"How's the leg?"

"I'm sure you didn't come here to check on my well-being," I answered as I prepared myself for anything he was going to do.

He chuckled a bit. "You're right. I came here to kill you." His eyes turned feral and there was no backing out of what was about to go down.

He charged at me at lightning speed but I quickly stepped to the side and avoided contact. But he anticipated my move and swung his leg out, striking me hard in the side. I gasped and doubled over, feeling his fist connect with the side of my head, whipping it sideways with a brutal force that felt like my head was going to detach from my neck. Apparently that's what it feels like to be punched by me.

He launched another fist towards me but I caught it and we both struggled for a bit before we both let go. I brought my good leg up and kicked him in the knee, sending him down to the ground. In an instant, he reached out and grabbed my injured thigh, digging his thumb into the bullet hole and causing me to scream out in pain.

:: Huntress:: Barbara's panic-filled voice came booming through my earpiece.

I couldn't answer her, my focus was on getting him to let go.

"Aw. Excuse me if I don't feel sorry for you," he said with a sarcastic smile.

I grabbed his wrists in an effort to get him away from me but he pressed harder and harder. I could feel the stitches pop as his thumb entered the hole- blood begin to ooze down my leg. "Let go!" I growled through gritted teeth.

:: Huntress, are you okay::

"No," I mumbled as I tried to get my good leg into a position where I could kick him and get him away from me.

"How do you want to die?" he asked me.

"The only one who's dying around here is you!" I seethed.

Suddenly, he let go of me and grabbed his head, grunting in pain. Looking up, I saw Dinah, Gibson and about ten other Metas walking over towards us.

"What's the matter? Can't stand the pain?" Dinah asked flatly.

"Stop!!!" he pleaded as he made his way over to the ledge, trying to put enough distance between him and everyone on the roof.

I got to my feet and limped closer towards him. "Not so tough, are you?"

"Make it stop!" he screamed as he got up onto the ledge.

"Morton!" Reese yelled from across the roof, gun drawn.

"Reese, kill them all! They're trying to kill me."

Reese pointed his gun at Morton, almost ignoring my presence. "Get down from the ledge and put your hands where I can see them. You're under arrest."

"No! I'm doing this city a favor, Reese! Don't you see what kind of animals these things are?"

"I'm not going to ask you again."

Morton jumped down from the ledge and slowly put his hands up, but I didn't expect for him to grab me and haul me over to the ledge, pulling us both over.

A beam of light was shining into my right eye, blinding me for a moment. After my eye adjusted I saw Barbara's face.

"Hey. You okay?" Barbara asked as she stared down at me.

I didn't answer right away because I wasn't entirely sure. Taking a moment, I looked around and saw that I was in the lab. Then everything started to come back to me and I bolted upright. "Morton...owww," I hissed as pain flared up in my back.

"Easy," Barbara said as she put her hands gently on my shoulders and eased me back down. "No more sudden moves like that, not for a few days."

"What happened?" I asked as I put my hand to my head. "How am I not splattered all over the pavement?"

"Morton took the brunt of the fall. You both landed on the roof of a parked car. He hit first and you fell on top of him, but you bruised your back pretty good."

"Did you talk to Reese?"

"No, but Dinah did. He questioned everyone at the scene."

"And?"

"And I think he's pretty clear that you had nothing to do with the murders."

"He's such an idiot. And to shoot me for no reason."

Barbara played with the machines beside me, "Yes, that's something that I actually spoke to him personally about."

"What? You..."

"I met with him and told him that I'm not too pleased about him shooting my protégés and that we're not the bad guys."

"What did he say to that?"

"He didn't say anything, he didn't have to. His facial expression and body language said enough."

"And?"

"He's not convinced."

I could feel the anger in me start to simmer again. "God! He's so arrogant! He's just pissed because a woman is out there doing the job better than him."

"That's probably part of it. You're invading his territory and it's not sitting too well with him. I made it clear to him that he should refrain from such violent behavior in the future or some phone calls would have him transferred somewhere he'd rather not be."

I laughed at the thought of Barbara threatening a police officer in her techno babble kind of way. "Priceless."

"I mean it. What if that bullet had hit your femoral vein and you bled to death."

I never really thought of the severity of it or the what ifs.

"He had no right to do that to you...or to me," she said as she closed the drawers on the medicine cabinet.

I knew what she meant and I didn't need her to spell it out for me. "Thanks, Barbara."

She put some of her surgical equipment away and straightened up a bit. "You're welcome. Now rest. I'll have Alfred get the spare bedroom downstairs ready for you." She wheeled to the door but stopped just as she was halfway through the doorway. "Oh, and if you get up from that table without using crutches I'm going to the next one to punch you in the face."

I smiled. "Nice."

She smiled back and left the room.

FIN


End file.
